No major changes on horizon for CU unis

Buffs to stick with classic look, add new accessories

Colorado's Michael Adkins (15) celebrates with teammate Nelson Spruce after Adkins scored a touchdown against Charleston Southern during their Oct. 19, 2013 game in Boulder. The Buffaloes will continue to wear their traditional uniforms in 2014. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

College football fans are generally split into two camps in 2014 when it comes to whether their favorite team should be changing its uniforms or sticking with tradition.

Some want to be Oregon and have their team take the field in a different color jersey or special helmet or both every week, and others want the team they're cheering for this season to look like the team they cheered for when they were in school.

The traditionalist at Colorado have been happy in recent years with the football team wearing the classic look of the 1990 national championship team, for the most part. They will continue to be happy this fall.

J.T. Galloway, assistant athletic director for equipment and licensing, said there are no major uniform changes planned for this season for the Buffs, and there aren't likely to be significant changes that stray too far from the classic CU brand in the future.

"We feel like we have a very strong brand and a rich history," Galloway said. "So we may look at doing some tweaks and subtle changes, but we're never going to go way out there in left field and just get away from who we are.

"We want to be pretty true to who the Buffs are."

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Galloway said major changes to football uniforms would require probably more than a year of lead time to discuss and review the changes with Nike, Inc. CU and Nike are under contract for uniforms, some equipment and merchandising through 2017 and significant changes to football uniforms haven't been made at CU since 2010 when the department chose to return to the look of the 1990 team for its 20th anniversary season.

Oregon's rise to prominence in college football has been characterized by winning with speed and high-powered offense and constantly updating and tweaking its uniforms thanks to its unique relationship with Nike, whose chairman and co-founder, Phil Knight, is an Oregon alum and booster.

Oregon's constantly evolving uniforms have proved popular with recruits and have led other programs to make drastic changes to their look, too.

Galloway said there are several accessories CU will add this fall that it hasn't used in the past. He said he can't reveal what they are at this time and he emphasized that there are no major differences in the uniforms this year. He said more significant changes could come to CU football uniforms in 2015. CU is having discussions about 2015 and beyond with Nike, but that doesn't mean CU will ever take the field in a look that is drastically different from what fans have come to expect from the program.

"When we hit the field, you'll know it's the Colorado Buffaloes," Galloway said. "There are so many times now you turn on the TV and you don't know who is playing. They don't wear their school colors or the uniforms are just so completely out there that you don't really know who is playing."

Galloway says he regularly fields questions and suggestions about possible changes from current CU players. He said there is definitely interest from players and recruits in what uniforms they will be wearing from one season to the next.

Galloway said he often seeks out the opinions of players on possible tweaks. The two most popular tweaks of recent years have been the addition of black helmets in addition to the classic gold helmets. Also, last year CU used a pink buffalo emblem with the black helmets the week it wore pink accents to support breast cancer awareness.

CU offers players multiple options when it comes to style of helmets because it's important for each player to feel comfortable and protected with the helmet type they like best. CU will add the new Riddell SpeedFlex helmet to its list of options for players this fall after linebacker Addison Gillam and safety Tedric Thompson tested them during spring ball and provided rave reviews.

The SpeedFlex helmets are designed to help reduce the force of impact and the number of concussions sustained on the field. They can be equipped with computer chip technology that communicates with handheld devices on the sidelines telling athletic trainers and doctors when a player has suffered a hit or a series of hits that could potentially cause a concussion. It's uncertain if CU's athletic training staff will use that technology this year.

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